A growing number of people are becoming obese to the point bariatric surgery becomes necessary for the patient to lose weight and avoid a life of obesity. While the trend toward obesity concerns health experts throughout the world, obesity is being treated by bariatric surgery. Such surgery procedure involves the sealing off of eighty-five percent (85%) of the patient's stomach. In such procedures, it is necessary to support the patient during the surgical procedure and transport the patient before and after the surgical procedure and during convalescence.
Bariatrics is typically defined as the branch of medicine concerned with the management of obesity and allied diseases. The above referred example of bariatric surgery is only one of the examples of an instance where it becomes necessary to support persons of considerable weight. It has been found necessary to deal with persons weighing up to and exceeding one thousand pounds.
Accordingly, it has become necessary to develop beds, stretchers, chairs, and/or tables capable of supporting the weight of persons weighing up to and exceeding one thousand pounds.
Typically, a standard hospital bed can be adjusted to control both mattress contour and height above the floor. The standard hospital bed is rated for approximately 350 pounds of weight. When it is necessary for the hospital bed to be moved, it is transported by rolling on casters. The standard hospital bed is typically 39-inches wide so as to fit through a standard hospital door.
The bariatric bed must have the capabilities of the standard hospital bed. That is, the bariatric bed is capable of adjusting the contours of the mattress and raising or lowering the elevation of the mattress above the floor. However, the bariatric bed is typically wider than the standard hospital bed, thus restricting the mobility of the bariatric bed within the hospital. The bariatric bed can be as wide as 60-inches, thus being much wider than the standard hospital door.
It would be desirable to produce a bariatric bed which combines a full array of functions including: flat, seated, reclining, and trendelenburg positions for patient transfer, transportation, examination, treatment, surgery, procedural, and cardiac chair position, and wherein the mobility of the bariatric bed is maximized.